Yatterman Night (Anime Series Review)

The anime series Yatterman Night is a series that is rooted in the backstory of a world created with the series. Long ago, Yatterman were known as “heroes of justice” with the sole purpose of fending off villains called the Doronbow Gang (led by a girl named Doronjo) and maintain an overall peace in the Yatter Kingdom. After multiple generations have long passed, the Yatterman aren’t quite the same type of heroes that they used to be and become slightly corrupted by power. However, everyone else in the kingdom has now been reduced to poverty desperation. With an overtly long power struggle going on between Yatterman and the evil Doronbow Gang, the series introduces us to a world where things aren’t as they used to be in its prime.

Now having the tables turned, the Doronbow Gang plays the role of rebellious heroes against the unethical Yatterman. The newly reformed Doronbow Gang is led by the series protagonist Leopard, a young girl who is a direct descendant to the former leader Doronjo, decides to enlist the help of others descendants to seek vengeance on the Yatterman for their crimes against the population as well as their families directly. Leopard holds the most animosity in her heart because her mother was taken from her due to the Yatterman – building more reason for Leopard to get back at anyone involved or changed by a sense of power. The concept of Yatterman Night is an interesting enough idea to make a plausibly enjoyable premise of revenge.

Leopard could make a strong impact for being a new generation of a historic war but the anime Yatterman Night gravitates towards a light and or goofy series with her sidekicks. If I had to change anything specific, I would like to have seen a more conflicted acknowledgement of character confliction. Showing a deeper meaning towards the past influencing aside from surface level revenge could have felt more complete for a potentially serious anime. Unfortunately, describing the series doesn’t equate to a full-scope on the not too successful series. In some ways, balancing (or creating an imbalance perhaps…) of a desolate world could be a combination for greatness – Yatterman Night just doesn’t perpetuate that possibility efficiently.

As far as characterization goes, Yatterman Night leaves a lot of needs unfulfilled. You may expect growth from the core group, especially Leopard – but nothing drastically changes by the time the anime concludes its long battle. The side characters don’t make too much of a change to the anime overall but the sheer strength of Boyacky makes him essential to stopping the Yatterman, paired with the distraction methods (sometimes of garbage) from Tonzra rounds out the three descendants of former well known figures. Galina and Alouette are a more interesting couple in addition to the trio that are a nice mix to the others, even at times creating a familial connection between Alouette and General Goro. By the time the end of the series comes around, it feels like a generally pleasant conclusion – with a surprise about what was thought to be the Yatterman and changes what the future holds.

From purely a visual first impression, Yatterman Night appears to go for a more comedic or careless series which fits a majority of the plot – making the animation feel justified for the artistic tale. Yatterman Night brings a childlike use of anime and primary colors that influence the ambiance of the series. The Japanese voice cast stays fairly consistent and feels like an average dubbing of Yatterman Night. Creatively, this particular anime series doesn’t appear as if it was trying to be a groundbreaking series, but they shot for some creativity that fell short on multiple occasions. Yatterman Night isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you want to enjoy the ride of a series that has some select strong moments then check out the series, available for purchase now!

Overall Score: 6.5/10

Aedan’s Final Thoughts:

Galina and Alouette were probably two of the most memorable additions to Yatterman Night

Leopard felt a little sub-par on her fighting abilities, still needing the aid of her comrades.

As much as I was pleased that the ending was seemingly happy, they could have used the previous episodes to set up a richer story.